Much has been made about how crucial the wide receivers will be to the success of the Baltimore Ravens this season. It all starts with Zay Flowers, who will be the WR1 in his second season as a pro.
Flowers has shown that he can produce, so he is less of a question mark than Rashod Bateman, the WR2 on the Ravens’ three-wide first-team offense.
The Tifton, GA native has struggled through three injury-riddled seasons in the pros, as we’re still waiting to see the level of production that would be befitting a first-round draft choice.
Nevertheless, Bateman was given a three-year, $15 million extension that most observers did not see coming. Day 2 of minicamp was held on Wednesday, and it marked the first time that Bateman and Lamar Jackson lined up at the same time. According to various reports, the two lacked timing and chemistry.
Of course, it is early in mini-camp, and you still have all of training camp, plus the preseason, to get Bateman and Jackson in sync with one another.
However, there is no getting around it—this is a make-or-break season for the 27th overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. Fortunately, he has a personal history of stepping up when needed.
The story of how he convinced his college coach, P.J. Fleck of the University of Minnesota, to recruit him is like something out of a movie. Bateman was a highly coveted prospect in basketball, not football.
However, he told the Golden Gophers head coach he would impress him like no one else has ever done.
That is exactly what happened, too. Fleck said he hasn’t had “maybe anyone have a better individual workout than he did that day.”
Bateman delivered the goods during his time in Minneapolis, too. In 2019, he put up a 60-1,219-11 while helping lead the Gophers to 11 wins for just the second time in program history and the first since 1904.
The following year was the COVID-19 pandemic season, which was unprecedented for us all. Fleck challenged his team, including Bateman, to learn from all the challenges that came with living in lockdown restrictions and become better human beings overall.
“We all had to get better,” Fleck said to The Sports Bank at 2021 Big Ten Media Day.
“We should all be kinder, have a better perspective, and appreciate. We should all have a different perspective than we did two years ago, and if you don’t, something is wrong with you.
“So that’s how we all treat each other in our program. We have tremendous young men who will do tremendous things to change this world.”
Once again, Bateman answered the bell.
The 2024 season is a chance for Bateman to improve again and be a tremendous young man professionally.
